EMINEM ISSUES "THE WARNING" TO MARIAH AND NICK

EMINEM ISSUES "THE WARNING" TO MARIAH AND NICK ***Six weeks ago Mariah Carey went on the offensive in her ongoing war of words with Eminem by releasing the single "Obsessed" and seeming to mock the rapper in the video version of the song. Yesterday, the Oscar-winning singer-songwriter ("Lose Yourself") responded with the obscenity-laden song "The Warning". ***As one of the only printable lines of the song says, "I'm obsessed now? Oh, gee that's supposed to be me in the video, with the goatee?" Eminem goes on to describe intimate details of a long-ago liaison with Mariah Carey, to mock her husband of 16 months Nick Cannon, and to threaten the release of compromising pictures and voice mails of the songstress. ***Mariah Carey has always prided herself on her songwriting abilities. In "Obsessed", she wrote in a rap directed to Eminem, "Why are you so obsessed with me? Boy I wanna know. Lying that you're sexing me when everybody knows it's clear that you're upset with me." ***While Eminem has said that he and Carey were one-time lovers, she repeatedly has denied his claim. On his new album "Relapse" released in mid-May, Eminem referenced Carey and Cannon in a less-than-flattering light on the track "Bagpipes From Baghdad". This newest track is not from that album but was released only online. ***"Obsessed" was the first single from Carey's new album "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" due out August 25. This 12th studio album by Mariah Carey just makes the new August 31 cut-off for Grammy Awards eligibility. Though Mariah has racked up 34 Grammy nominations (among female artists, second only to Aretha Franklin), she has managed only five wins. And none of those victories came in the top categories of album, record and song of the year. ***Over the years, Eminem has won nine Grammys but lost both his bids for album and record of the year. As a songwriter, he has contended for song of the year just twice. And he did not land a best new artist nod when he burst onto the music scene. Carey was named best new artist in 1990 for her self-titled debut album. And she won best pop vocal, female, that year. Then, though her follow-up albums all went platinum, there was a Grammy Awards drought until her smash hit "The Emancipation of Mimi". ***Carey went into the 2005 Grammys with eight nominations but left with only three wins, in the R&B genre - contemporary album, song ("We Belong Together") and female vocal. The singer-songwriter lost the big prizes of album, record and song of the year to U2 and Green Day. ***And her 2008 follow-up - the critically acclaimed, chart-topping "E=MC2" - did not have the right formula to win over Grammy voters. She was snubbed for that album as a whole and her historic No. 1 single, "Touch My Body", was shockingly shut out as well. She picked up just a nod for her gospel collaboration on "I Understand". (Los Angeles Times)